The Future of Digital Ad Protection: Emerging Tech and Trends

The competitive advertising landscape demands trust and transparency from advertisers. 

Innovation and data-driven targeting are fueling the evolution of the ad ecosystem. But this change is opening up new vulnerabilities across digital advertising platforms that need emerging AI/ML-driven tech and comprehensive multi-layer digital ad protection.

Protecting digital ads from ad fraud can lead the way into the future, building a seamless and secure advertising landscape.

Let’s explore what the future holds.

Securing digital ads amidst growing expenditure

According to Statista, worldwide digital advertising spending is expected to reach $870.85 billion by 2027. With the rise in digital ad budgets, the risk of wastage will also increase. 

Safeguarding your ads in the ever-expanding digital landscape poses a significant challenge. The key is identifying and navigating threats that can drain your ad budget, such as invalid traffic across advertising platforms. Implementing robust ad protection measures can enhance your return on ad spend (ROAS). 

It primarily generates false impressions, clicks, conversions, or other actions that drain advertising budgets without adding genuine value to advertisers. 

Types of ad frauds

Some types of ad fraud include:

• Invalid or fraudulent traffic: Invalid traffic leads to click fraud and impression fraud, where automated bots or scripts are used to inflate the number of clicks and impressions. 
  Click farms, click spams, bot-generated clicks or impressions from invalid geographies and devices, and repeated IPs lead to more clicks and impressions. Advertisers often make clicks and impressions that do not come from genuine users.
• Fake events or conversions: Bot-triggered events such as sign-ups or purchases are often used to earn commissions or bonuses from affiliate marketing programs.
  Such fake conversion numbers or high installs lead to the wastage of ad spend. This requires checking user patterns to differentiate between bots and genuine users.
• Domain spoofing: Domain spoofing is a deceptive tactic used in digital advertising. It involves falsifying the domain or URL displayed in an ad impression so that a website or app appears as a legitimate publisher or platform. 
  It makes it look like the ad is being served on a reputable and high-traffic website, but, in reality, it is being displayed on a completely different and often low-quality or fraudulent website.
  These fraudulent websites or apps claim to have ad inventory available for purchase through ad exchanges or networks. Advertisers purchase ad placements believing that ads will be displayed on reputable websites with high-quality traffic. They also participate in impression laundering.

Who does the ad fraud affect?

Ad fraud affects advertisers, publishers, ad networks, and exchanges.

Advertisers are directly impacted by ad fraud as they pay for fake impressions, clicks, or conversions, leading to wasted advertising budgets and diminished return on investment (ROI). 

Legitimate publishers may suffer reputational damage if their websites unwittingly host fraudulent ads. Publishers may lose out on legitimate ad revenue if advertisers become wary of placing ads on their platforms due to concerns about ad fraud. 

Ad networks and exchanges that facilitate the buying and selling of digital advertising spaces can suffer credibility issues if their platforms are associated with ad fraud. Advertisers may lose trust in these intermediaries, leading to decreased demand for their services. 

While consumers may not be directly targeted by ad fraud, they can indirectly suffer consequences such as encountering malicious ads or experiencing privacy violations. 

Impacts of ad fraud across the digital advertising ecosystem

The impacts of ad fraud are multifaceted, extending beyond just financial losses.

Advertisers pay for clicks and conversions generated by bots instead of real human users and for ad placements that genuine users never see. This distorts key performance metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and ROI.

Misguided advertisers may believe their campaigns are more successful than they actually are, leading to misallocated resources and decreased ROI.

According to Proxima’s research, many companies are ineffectively wasting their ad budgets between 40% and 60% on invalid non-human traffic and poor viewability or ad placement. Ads appearing on low-quality or fraudulent websites can damage the reputation of the advertiser's brand. Consumers may associate the brand with deceptive practices, eroding trust and brand equity. 

Ad fraud artificially inflates digital advertising costs by creating a false demand for ad inventory, driving up prices for legitimate advertisers, and making it more expensive to reach their target audience effectively.

When advertisers and publishers cannot trust the validity of ad impressions, clicks, and conversions, confidence in the effectiveness and reliability of online advertising channels erodes.

Ad fraud also exposes advertisers and ad networks to regulatory scrutiny and legal risks by violating consumer protection laws, data privacy regulations, or advertising industry standards. This leads to potential legal consequences or fines.

Challenges in effective digital ad protection

One of the major challenges in digital ad fraud protection is comprehensive validation checks across various advertising platforms. Every platform offers a different set of complexities and challenges. Advertisers need to identify these key aspects and vulnerabilities in advertising campaigns, plug the gaps, and optimize the performance of those campaigns.

Along with exploring new possibilities, advertisers need to overcome significant challenges like ad fraud detection, band safety, and safe ad placements to optimize performance.  

Digital ad fraud prevention

Invalid traffic leading to advertising fraud is the biggest menace for advertisers. Various forms of ad fraud, including click fraud, impression fraud, and attribution fraud, are plaguing the digital ecosystem. Brands need to mitigate the wastage of ad spend and enhance ad campaign performance.

• Ad fraud in brand campaigns: Impressions measure brand recognition through online ad campaigns. Most digital brand advertisements are based on cost-per-mille (CPM). The campaign cost in a CPM advert is determined by total impressions, which also determine the reach of the ad channel and total ad viewers in a specific channel.
• Ad fraud in performance campaigns: Marketers and advertisers use analytics to create brand strategies. Ad fraud infiltration into the data falsifies the results, increases the marketing budget, and doesn’t reach most real human audiences. Ad fraud is also considered a major drawback of programmatic ads among advertisers.

Brand safety

Lack of brand safety leads to risks of backlash and damage to brand reputation associated with ad placements alongside inappropriate or harmful content. Brands must be vigilant against threats that can damage their brand reputation. Brand safety without the help of advanced technologies is impossible in the digital landscape.

Brand safety is an emerging area in the martech space, and every brand custodian is increasingly interested in it. It also brings different brand teams together, including digital teams, brand teams, e-commerce teams, legal teams, corporate communication teams, and partners, including agencies, that are engaged in various roles.

Brand safety is non-negotiable. The brand cannot leave even a single issue unattended, so a comprehensive reporting system must first be in place.

Ad placement verification

Verifying ad placements to ensure compliance with brand guidelines and industry regulatory standards. Identifying safe ad placement is one of the key challenges, as association with brand-unsafe content can tarnish the brand image. 

Ads placed on a made-for-advertising (MFA) site or low-quality site get clicks and impressions but not conversions because ads are not placed in front of relevant audiences and at the appropriate places. The same goes for advertisements on video platforms like YouTube. Imagine a new SUV ad running on a video made for kids. 

Emerging technologies for digital ad protection

Some innovative new technologies have the potential to protect digital ads from ad fraud and create a seamless and secure advertising landscape. Let's discuss them in more detail below.

AI/ML-driven ad protection tech

AI and ML technology are driving digital space and identifying bot patterns versus human behavior.

For instance, on platforms like YouTube, identifying videos that are safe for brand placement and identifying if the ads are placed on content that is deemed unsafe is the first step toward ad protection and brand protection. Emerging AI/ML tech helps brands identify safe ad placements and enable digital ad protection. 

Ad traffic validation tools

Ad traffic validation is another crucial area where brands and advertisers must be proactive and vigilant and empower themselves with digital ad protection tech.

This tech will enable advertisers to bring trust and transparency to the advertising campaigns, benefiting all stakeholders.  

Contextual relevancy detection tech

Digital ad campaigns need data-driven strategies for ad targeting, considering key factors like relevancy and contextual ad placement. An ad without contextual targeting is like an arrow without a target.

AI and keyword-based advanced search are used to determine the contextual relevance of ads. Contextual targeting enhances ad performance and prevents the waste of digital ad spend.

Content placement alongside relevant and safe content ensures that fraudulent activities do not impact the brand's reputation. The content must be vetted for compliance with brand safety guidelines to reduce the possibility of ads being displayed on low-quality or brand-unsafe content. The contextual relevance of ad placements ensures brands align with their messaging.

Trends shaping the future of digital ad protection

A few trends are emerging in this space, like the shift toward contextual advertising, AI-driven tech, and adaptive security measures. Let's dive in to learn more about what they mean.

Contextual targeting

With growing concerns about data privacy and the reliability of behavioral targeting data, advertisers are moving towards contextual targeting as a viable alternative. By focusing on the context in which ads are displayed, advertisers can ensure their ads appear in brand-safe environments.

Contextual targeting involves serving ads based on the content of the web page rather than user data. This trend helps advertisers reach their target audience more effectively and mitigates the risk of ad fraud associated with behavioral targeting.

AI/ML-powered fraud detection

Advertisers and ad networks are turning to AI and ML for real-time fraud detection and prevention to combat the rising threats of sophisticated ad fraud schemes. 

AI/ML-driven advanced algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns that can identify fraudulent activity, such as unusual traffic patterns, abnormal click-through rates, and suspicious user behavior.

This empowers advertisers to detect ad fraud more efficiently and accurately, enabling them to take immediate action to mitigate its impact and protect their advertising budgets.

Adaptive security measures

Ad fraudsters constantly adapt and change their tactics to evade detection, making it essential for advertisers to deploy adaptive security measures. 

The adaptive capabilities of ad fraud detection tech can evolve in response to new and emerging threats. These measures may include dynamic fraud detection algorithms that learn from past incidents to identify patterns indicative of fraudulent activity and real-time monitoring systems that can quickly detect and respond to suspicious behavior. 

Adaptive security measures keep advertisers one step ahead of fraudsters and ensure that even sophisticated digital advertising campaign threats can be neutralized in time.

The impact of MFA sites on ad campaigns

MFA sites are websites created primarily to generate revenue through online advertising. Unlike genuine content-driven websites, MFA sites prioritize ad placement rather than providing value.

These sites typically feature low-quality or automated content to attract traffic and generate ad impressions or clicks, which can negatively impact ad campaigns.

• Wasted ad spend: Advertisers waste a considerable portion of their advertising budget, often unknowingly, on publishers who publish ads on MFA sites. This inefficient allocation of resources reduces campaign effectiveness, and the clicks and impressions generated from these sites do not result in meaningful engagement or conversions.
• Low quality of traffic: Clicks or impressions on MFA sites come from users with little or no interest in the advertised products or services. This can result in a lower quality of traffic, leading to skewed campaign performance metrics with low ROAS and conversion rates.
• Negative brand association: Ads appearing on MFA sites may be associated with low-quality content, which can damage the brand reputation of an advertiser's credibility. Consumers may perceive brands advertised on MFA sites as less trustworthy, leading to a steep decline in brand perception and consumer trust.

Strategies for advertisers to combat the impact of MFA sites on ad campaigns

Below are a few strategies to help advertisers reduce the impact of MFA sites on their ad campaign performance.

• Ad placement optimization: Advertisers can leverage ad placement optimization tech to determine the relevance and contextuality of ad placements. Platforms like Google Ads offer placement exclusions based on site categories, allowing advertisers to avoid displaying ads on low-quality or undesirable websites.
• Ad fraud detection tech: Advanced fraud detection technology driven by AI and ML can help weed out fraudulent traffic originating from MFA sites. These tools use advanced algorithms and data analysis techniques to detect patterns indicative of fraudulent activity and prevent ads from being displayed to non-human or low-quality traffic.
• Continuous ad monitoring and campaign evaluation: Implement monitoring and evaluation processes to assess campaign performance. Identify any invalid traffic sources or low-quality traffic, including MFA sites. This enables advertisers to take proactive measures to nullify the impact of MFA sites on campaign effectiveness.

The future of digital ad protection

Continuous innovation and keeping pace with emerging tech are key to business growth. Ad fraud prevention, coupled with brand safety features, can catapult brand reach and help achieve brand advertising goals.  

AI can identify emotions, objects, and personas, and, combined with advanced keyword search can help identify safe and unsafe ad placements. Machine learning can differentiate between bots and human-driven actions, which leads to more effective results and enhances ROI from digital ad campaigns.

Ad fraud detection helps verify, optimize, and protect your click, impression, and brand integrity. Advertisers must take a proactive approach, comply with brand, platform, and regulatory guidelines, and move toward comprehensive full funnel protection.

Digital ad protection is not limited to fraud prevention; it covers the wide spectrum of digital security. An effective ad campaign requires validation, optimization, and protection in the ad ecosystem. Proactive measures such as ad traffic validation safeguard your ad spend and build trust and transparency.

Ad fraud has a domino effect that leads to trust erosion and can result in customer loss. Thus, using all these technologies for brand protection is a must in the digital ecosystem. The digital advertising landscape is evolving. All you need to do is match the pace of evolution with vigilance to achieve your ad campaign goals and advertise fearlessly.

Ready to protect your advertising investments? Learn how to strategize and decrease ad fraud risk factors.

Edited by Jigmee Bhutia